Back in March of 2013 however, emails between the former Hoboken Housing Authority Chair, Jake Stuiver exchanged with the Hudson Reporter and its editor Caren Matzner revealed a solitary focus on a failed resolution for Florio Perucci and absolutely no interest in the contract actually reissued to the lightening rod counsel aligned with Garcia in Charles Daglian.

Leading into that vote by the HHA board of commissioners, Daglian acted as counsel in the same 2013 HHA meeting where Carmelo Garcia warned of personal consequences, both ethical and criminal if HHA commissioners failed to reissue an approved contract.

The Hudson Reporter kept mum on all the problems stemming from that early 2013 contract approval as it would later ignore the 2014 audit report and the implicit serious questions of insubordination, competence and later further ethical and possible legal conflicts under Carmelo Garcia.

These are actual, unedited emails originating with the Hudson Reporter being handed the federal report from HUD.

After Amanda Palasciano, then a rookie reporter for the Hudson Reporter is emailed the HUD report, the response show a different agenda entirely with apparently no interest in the HUD report itself. Palasciano would soon voice support for Garcia's NJ Assembly campaign on her Facebook and follow months later acting as a communications manager on the 2013 Tim Occhipinti mayoral campaign backed by Beth Mason and developer Frank "Pupie" Raia.

After the conversation immediately shifts into the motives of Chairman Stuiver's service, a lengthy list of additional reporter questions focus on the failed bid of Florio Perucci before concluding on the wonderful reign of then HHA Executive Director Carmelo Garcia.

Perhaps a rookie reporter had little knowledge on why the HHA under Garica ran "seamlessly" with no real oversight by a working board of commissioners or that Garcia himself designed a scoring system rigging the top vendor for the legal counsel contract multiple times pushing it before the board on almost SEVEN occasions but never seeing it passed.

That's no typo. Carmelo Garcia offered up Charles Daglian more than half-a-dozen times attempting to force the HHA board of commissioners to submit to his counsel demand.

In the email below, a reply raises the HUD report again and the report's serious findings highlighting strong concerns about the legal ethics involved in Daglian sitting on a meeting to see his contract reissued.

To no avail, the response turns back to the failed resolution turning down Florio Perucci. There's no interest in any of the serious matters raised in the earlier APPROVED legal contract. The discussion goes back to the direction, some might say sole focus on what one Carmelo Garcia would see as "problematic."

A tepid response by the rookie reporter assures there will be some highlighting of the HUD report.
It never of course finds its way into print.

Concern is raised on the personal focus of the reporter's inquiry. Once again, an attempt is made to refocus on the serious matters highlighted by the HUD report. This time the Hudson Reporter editor Caren Matzner is looped into the email.

Caren Matzner attempts to intervene and assures that this isn't personal and there's longstanding issues with the HHA which may arise and be reflected in an upcoming story. She urges there be a phone discussion as the HHA Chairman is clearly responding to what looks very much like a set-up or a hit job.

Once again, there's zero interest in the serious findings raised in the HUD report or the reissuing of a contract to what many see as Carmelo Garcia's "personal attorney" not a counsel acting in the actual interest of the HHA board of commissioners.

Smelling a rat, another opinion is requested. The conclusion: it's a rat hit job by the Hudson Reporter with no interest in reporting the actual news but manufacturing a story to ignore the actual news in the HUD report.

The Hudson Reporter showed a singular focus on the HHA in 2013but it had little to do with an oversight agency in HUD and its scathingreport undoing Carmelo Garcia on a legal contract.Two years later, the Hudson Reporter would rediscover interestin that contract but imaginary ones it sought to pin on Councilman Ravi Bhalla.

Talking Ed Note: Is this typical "journalistic" behavior by the Hudson Reporter?

Ask anyone in the Reform Movement especially after Dawn Zimmer became councilwoman and then mayor and you'll not be surprised to hear, "same ole, same old."

And that is why MSV is proud to designate the Mason Media Complex award to the Hudson Reporter.

The Hudson Reporter is feeling the heat after its recent pre-election hit job directed at Councilman Ravi Bhalla.

In a rare correction over the weekend, the Hudson Reporter backed off its repeated misstatements claiming Ravi Bhalla's law firm held the Hoboken Housing Authority legal contract.

It then followed up incorrectly stating the firm he later joined was a bidder for the same contract - a year and half later - under interim HHA Executive Director Bob DiVincent. But it did so implying a timeline never mentioned as the bidding took place more than a year apart under a different HHA chair and board.

Many have wondered why there's never been any mention of the scathing critique by the HHA's federal oversight agency at the Hudson Reporter?

Now the mystery how such a big story never came to pass can be explained. Information exclusively obtained reveals a complete lack of interest at the Hudson Reporter on the federal report severely criticizing Carmelo Garcia's procurement action.

At the February 2013 HHA meeting, Charles Daglian sat as representative counsel in support of his own contract being renewed and Carmelo Garcia announced threats against the HHA commissioners if they failed to yield to his desires and rubber stamp its approval.

The Hudson Reporter took a rather limited interest in the HHA at the time. Declining to report anything on the HUD report, it took a different tack using anonymous critics seeking to do a story on then HHA Chair Jake Stuiver.

Unlike the Hudson Reporter, MSV won't tell you what to think and make qualifying remarks about what unpublished emails "may" mean or posit conspiracy theories.

MSV will publish the complete unedited emails.

More to come.

The Hudson Reporter building on 14th Street in uptown Hoboken recently announced for sale.New revelations on its "journalistic" practices have arisen surrounding Hoboken's November City Council election.Photo courtesy of Kurt Gardiner

Talking Ed Note: MSV notified the Hudson Reporter with this email to publisher Dave Unger, editor Caren Matzner and Al Sullivan in order to give them adequate opportunity to "defend" themselves.

The Hudson Reporter showed a great interest in the HHA legal contract when it mistakenly believed Ravi Bhalla’s law firm held it.

MSV has obtained information showing the Hudson Reporter had the “legally flawed” HUD report at the time but did not report anything on it.Would you like to offer a reason for ignoring the findings on Carmelo Garcia’s legal counsel procurement practices?